02
Oct
2007
Monthly Archives: October 2007
02
Oct
2007
CNN Money: Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC unveiled four new devices that will go on sale during the Christmas trading period, and said that it had sold 800.000 of its flagship Touch phones since they went on sale July 22.
HTC, the world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones based on the Windows Mobile operating platform, monday followed up the success of its first Touch phone in Europe and Asia, with the Touch Dual phone.
France Telecom’s (FTE) mobile arm Orange will be the first operator to sell the phone – which can run on a 3.5G/HSDPA network – in the U.K., France, Romania and Poland, starting in October. The phone – which like Apple’s iPhone has a two-megapixel camera, touch screen and the ability to rotate images – will be provided free in the U.K. to Orange customers on a GBP35-a-month tariff.
HTC is also launching three other devices: the HTC Shift, a small mobile computer that runs on the Microsoft Windows Vista platform, and has push email; the HTC S730 handset aimed at both consumer and business users; and the P6500.
Despite making a name for itself making O2′s XDA business device, the P6500 is HTC’s first own-branded phone aimed specifically for the business market.
As well as supporting third-generation, or 3G, connectivity that supports wireless multimedia applications and satellite navigation, the device also includes applications that could prove attractive to logistics companies and the local government sector, including a barcode reader and finger-print scanning.
02
Oct
2007
CNet: Sony will launch an ultra-thin flat TV based on the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology on December 1 in Japan, bringing a new contender to a market dominated by LCD and plasma TVs. It will be the world’s first OLED TV, the company said on Monday.
Sony, the world’s No.2 liquid crystal display (LCD) TV maker behind Samsung Electronics, expects an 11-inch OLED TV with a thickness of 3 millimeters to sell for $1.740 (approx. 1.223 Euro).
OLED panels are energy efficient, make thin and light displays, offer crisp pictures and have strength in showing fast-moving images, suitable for watching sports events.
But it is technologically difficult at the moment to make larger panels, a factor that limits the appeal of the otherwise promising next-generation television.
“I don’t think OLED TVs will replace LCD TVs overnight. But I do believe this is a type of technology with very high potential, something that will come after LCD TVs,” Sony Executive Deputy President Katsumi Ihara told a news conference”.
02
Oct
2007
Play.tm: Consumer demand for the zeitgeist-capturing Wii console could be so acute this festive season that Nintendo are once again left fire-fighting, rather than meeting demands. That’s the word from Ninty boss Reggie Fils-Aime as the march to Christmas begins in earnest.
Speaking to the Mercury News online, he said that stocks of the console could once again be devilishly hard to come by, with currently supplies likely to last no longer than ‘a day’ before selling out.
“We’re working very hard to make sure that consumers are satisfied this holiday, but I can’t guarantee that we’re going to meet demand. As a matter of fact, I can tell you on the record that we won’t,” he said. “What I can tell you is that typically, our inventory is lasting a day… I don’t think we will know when supply crosses with demand until after the holiday season.”
While Nintendo have ramped-up output of the console, demand has increased more rapidly than the company can up their production rates, leaving a shortfall that cannot be rectified by Christmas, according to Fils-Aime.
02
Oct
2007
The Inquirer: leading mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, and dominant handset supplier, Nokia have both thrown their weight behind the last version of Flash for handsets – Adobe’s Lite 3.
The product will redress an imbalance between the world of the fixed web and that of the mobile net. With Lite 3 it will now be feasible to imbed videos in pages designed to be viewed on a mobile phone.
According to Lee Epting, a vp with Forum Nokia (Nokia’s developer community site), “Flash Lite 3 will enable us to deliver richer content to our customers, such as videos and animated ringtones”.
Indeed Forum Nokia intends to is supposedly launching “a new community for creative professionals today, providing Flash developers and designers with the tools to bring their products to billions of mobile customers.”
02
Oct
2007
PC Pro: The UK has one of the slowest average broadband speeds in Europe, according to a new report.
The study shows that Britain has an average connection speed of 2.6Mb/sec, placing it below countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Holland.
In fact the UK comes in a miserable ninth in the table of 16 European countries studied by the Information Technology Innovation Foundation (ITIF).
The study’s figures contrast sharply with regulator Ofcom’s current appraisal of British broadband. In a consultation paper looking at the future of broadband published last week, Ofcom claimed the “the average headline speed has doubled in a year to reach 4.6Mb/sec.”
This is, of course, based on the theoretical maximum speed of the connection – which not a single line in the country actually receives. A Moneysupermarket.com survey earlier this year revealed that just a fifth of British broadband customers felt they were receiving the speed they paid for.
01
Oct
2007
Venues: Tourism agency VisitBritain has signed a new partnership with TomTom, to put points of interest (POIs), such as quality assessed accommodation, attractions and tourist information centres, onto TomTom’s satellite navigation systems.
The fruit of the collaboration is a unique download service that combines all relevant information in an ultimate ‘on the road’ tourism kit.
Business and domestic visitors to the UK can easily access and transfer this information to a TomTom device through a unique ‘Add-to-my-TomTom’ button on the website.
The details include the best route to over 5,000 attractions, 17,000 types of accommodation and 500 tourist information centres.
Specific icons will appear on screen when visitors draw near to the relevant attractions, tourist information centres and accommodation.
01
Oct
2007
TWICE: JVC and Kenwood said Monday they have set up a joint venture to develop car electronics technologies as well as home and portable audio products.
The 50-50 joint venture will have 130 employees, the companies said.
In a joint statement announcing the move, JVC and Kenwood said they plan to increase their total sales of car navigation systems to 1 million units per year, from the current 200,000 to 300,000 units per year.
The companies announced in July that they planned to combine forces in several areas, including car electronics, before possibly moving toward a full merger in 2008.
01
Oct
2007
Wall Street Journal: Finnish mobile-phone giant Nokia last night was deep in discussions to purchase navigation-software maker Navteq, people familiar with the matter said, marking what would be one of its largest-ever corporate acquisitions.
Chicago-based Navteq is one of the world’s leaders in electronic mapping, which enables in-vehicle navigation devices and a new generation of mobile-phone applications used for shopping, emergency services and advertising.
The two sides have been in deep discussions over the past few weeks, said the people familiar with the matter. It was still possible those discussions could crumble over a series of last-minute issues. A Navteq spokesman didn’t return a request for comment. Nokia representatives were unavailable for comment.
Nokia’s interest in Navteq represents a vigorous move into the mobile-services arena, where Nokia has already been building a suite of products around games and music. These types of services have been in development for years by mobile-phone makers like Nokia, as well as by telecom service providers. Around the telecommunications world, there is a growing sense that these services are finally ready for wide-scale consumer adoption.
01
Oct
2007
PC World: The popular DS handheld has surpassed 50 million in worldwide sales says Tech.co.uk; nearly as fast as Apple sells iPods.
According to the report, almost 40 percent of DS owners reside in Japan. That means one in six people own a DS in the country.
Only a handful of products reach the seminal 100 million milestone. Apple announced in April that it had sold its 100 millionth iPod player, doing so in only five and a half years. It took Sony 13 and a half years to sell 100 million Walkmans, 10 years to sell 100 million units of the original PlayStation, and five an a half years to sell 100 million PlayStation 2 machines.
Nintendo’s personal best is 100 million GameBoys sold in 11 years; something the company’s newest portable should easily surpass in much less time. By comparison, Sony’s PlayStation handheld has sold 25 million units to date.
The DS was first released in late 2004. In 2006, Nintendo released the DS Lite, a more streamlined version of the original.
01
Oct
2007
HDTV News: Microsoft has announced new Extenders for Windows Media Center, which connects a broadband-connected PC to a home entertainment centre.
The technology provides easy access to HDTV, video formats including DivX, music, photos and other media, from any TV in a house, via a network connection.
The Extenders make it possible to pause a TV show in one room and then resume watching in from a TV in another room.
Extenders for Windows Media Center is compatible with PCs running Vista Premium and Ultimate.
Linksys, D-Link and Niveus are all offering units to make this work, and HP is incorporating the extender technology in its MediaSmart LCD HDTV range, and Linksys, D-Link and Niveus are all offering units to make the technology work.
HP MediaSmart LCD HDTVs are available in 42-inch and 47-inch sizes and support 1080p video, 802.11n wireless, and DivX, XVid, WMV and other video formats.
01
Oct
2007
Pocket Gamer: It’s one of those technologies we’re prone to make fun of, if only because we’re not entirely sure what it’s all about, but the news that the world’s first mobile WiMAX gaming device had been announced certainly got our attention.
Called the G100 and developed by Posbro, a subsidiary of Posdata (itself a subsidary of huge Korea steel maker Posco), it’s just been revealed at the WiMAX World USA 2007 exhibition in Chicago.
In terms of hardware specs, the G100 features a widescreen four-inch touchscreen that slides up to reveal four buttons which act as a D-pad, four face buttons and a mobile-style nub. There are also two shoulder buttons.
As for network technology, the G100 supports mobile WiMAX – itself a cell phone-style high-speed technology equivalent to 3G and 4G mobile networks – as well as old fashioned Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This, Posbro says, will enable users to select the most appropriate network to make an internet connection.